Good Rules Set for AD&D 1 or 2?

[Luxion]

I love 4E and that's really what I use FG2 for. 4E is well adapted for VTT play.

But I cut my teeth on AD&D 1 and 2 and would like to go back to these occasionally. My one real sticking point is THAC0. All my players are in their 20s and used to modern games and while there's a lot to love about the different style of play the older editions use, I really, really, really don't want to have to teach them THAC0. free action movie

But! If there's a robust FG2 ruleset for it, then they wouldn't need to know their THAC0, they would just click on who they want to attack, roll, and FG2 tells them if they hit.
comedy movie free and free horror movie
Does a ruleset like that exist?

[teaman]

I am a big fan of Basic Fantasy.  It's old school D&D with ascending armor class.  And it is free at:

http://basicfantasy.org

Now, it is based on the B/X edition, so it is a little lighter than AD&D.  Swords and Wizardry is another free option, that one is based on original brown box.

OSRIC is the AD&D retroclone if you want something very close to the original.  You can just switch to ascending armor class.

I don't know if this helps, but I tried.

[Maegnarval]

For my game on Roll20.net i use the following Action Macro Buttons for Initiative Rolls & 'To Hit' Rolls:

Initiative Roll (based on 1E Baldur's Gate games):
Turn Order goes from Highest to Lowest (Descending)

--------------------------------------------
Button Macro Label: #04Init-LongSword

Text is:

FENWE the ranger, readies his Long Sword for an Attack Move !

Init Roll Long Sword: [[ 1d10 + 0 [DEX Bonus (Reaction)] - 5 [Weapon Speed or Spell Casting Time] &{tracker} ]]

-----------------------------------------------

'To Hit' Roll Action Macro Button:

-----------------------------------------------
Button Label: #05LongSword-ToHit

Button Text:
FENWE the ranger, Attacks with his +1 Long Sword at @{target|token_name} enemy !

Long Sword Hits: Armor Class [[ @{THAC0} - ( 1d20+1) ]]  : Damage [[1d8+1]] S/M or [[1d12+6]] L

-------------------------------------------------

[Serian]

I love 4E and that's really what I use FG2 for. 4E is well adapted for VTT play.

But I cut my teeth on AD&D 1 and 2 and would like to go back to these occasionally. My one real sticking point is THAC0. All my players are in their 20s and used to modern games and while there's a lot to love about the different style of play the older editions use, I really, really, really don't want to have to teach them THAC0.

Play 1E!

*YOU* cross reference their rolls on a combat chart. Your players don't always need to know their opponent's AC and what number they have to roll. The uncertainty is part of the excitement.

 

[Dizzy]

Swords & Wizardry: Complete is very similar to 1e, without using most of the stuff commonly ignored in 1e like weapon vs. ac, weapon speeds, etc...

It has rules for both descending ac & ascending with base-to-hit bonuses.

Basic Fantasy is good too. Core rules is more like B/X with separation of race & class (also ascending AC and BtH). On their websites are plenty of rules for the advanced races and classes. All free .pdf, very cheap print products.

[lastgrasp]

I like OSRIC and then add in the rest of AD&D 1e. I'm currently running a game on Roll20. We use OSRIC as the core then add in 1e stuff like Unearthed Arcana, Oriental Adventures, etc. We even use some 2e stuff since they run off the same chassis. OSRIC is fantastic if you want an easy to read version of 1e.

[DM Keith]

I would vote for
the actual 1E books
(or OSRIC) or S&W Complete. But honestly, I'd go with the original 1E books. They're not that expensive on eBay, and like somebody said above, I like the fact that the DM knows the monster's AC and tells the player whether the he hit based on the combat tables. That's always seemed more like what D&D is supposed to be, at least  to me.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Pladohs Ghost]

There's a project that took the 1e rulebooks and added materials from the other 1e expansions and then bits from here and there and offered it all up in expanded texts. The creator used the TSR covers and text, adding the additional materials in using the same typefaces, so it all looks like 1e books. That, of course, also means it violates TSR(WotC/Hasbro) IP rights. It can still be found online.

I like it because it consolidates the material from my hardcovers into fewer files.

[Angry Monk]

What Teaman said. 

Basic Fantasy Roleplaying Game http://basicfantasy.org/downloads.html

or another system I'm investigating is Low Fantasy Gaming https://lowfantasygaming.com/freepdf/

Both systems' PDFs are free and the printed versions are inexpensive.